For the Love of Gelo! Read Online Free PDF Page B

two wires together to be soldered.
    Instead, he looked around and then spoke quietly. “Hey, look, Nicki’s birthday is coming up, and I want to get her something special. Any ideas?”
    Apparently, each year humans expect special accolades and material rewards merely for having been born. “A bag of phui-chips?” I suggested, wondering if I should claim that today was my own “birthday” and demand that all of the humans give me their shoes.
    â€œA bag of phui-chips?” said Hollins, crinkling his brow. “No. Come on. It’s gotta be bigger than that.”
    â€œWhat about . . . ten thousand tons of phui-chips?”
    â€œForget the chips, Chorkle. What about some cool alien thing? Like a space gem or a jewel? Something that’s, like, classy. Hey, maybe a crown that does telepathy! Do you know where I can buy a telepathy crown?”
    I shrugged.
    â€œAll right. Well, if you think of anything, let me know.”
    â€œWon’t it be Becky’s birthday as well?” I asked. “They hatched on the same day, didn’t they?”
    â€œHatched? What? Oh yeah. I guess so,” said Hollins. He shrugged. The humans were always evasive on the details of their reproductive cycle.
    â€œSo don’t you need to get Becky something too?” I asked.
    He looked confused for a moment. Then his eyes lit up. “Yeah. You’re right. I could stuff a bunch of stink-pods into a sock and wrap it up real nice. Put a card on it that says ‘From Your Secret Admirer.’ Then, when she opens it, she’ll probably barf. That would be hilarious. Good idea, Chorkle.”
    I was puzzled by the discrepancy in the quality of these two birthday presents, and I was about to inquire further when Becky called out.
    â€œSis!”
    I turned to see her lying on the couch, pointing the remote at the televisual console and clicking. The TV remained resolutely off.
    â€œHold on,” came her twin’s muffled voice. Nicki was torso deep in the guts of the
Phryxus II
. “I’m recalibrating the flight controls.”
    â€œSis.”
    â€œJust give me one second.”
    â€œSiiiiiiis,” whined Becky, stretching the word out to four syllables, at least. “Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis. Si—”
    â€œAll right, all right!” cried Nicki, emerging from an access panel. She pulled out her holodrive, and with a few quick swipes, the
T’utzuxe
hummed to life. So did the TV. Nicki had figured out a way to redirect a small percentage of the ship’s power. It wasn’t much, just enough to run the human televisual screen.
    â€œThanks, sis,” said Becky. “This is why I’m still twins with you.” And she started to watch her favorite prerecorded episodic program. The humans had brought several with them from Earth. This one was a teen melodrama called
Vampire Band Camp
.
    â€œDo you think Clyve is
finally
going to ask Lucy to be second trombone?” I asked, sitting down beside her.
Vampire Band Camp
certainly trumped the wrinkled geology worksheet I clutched in my thol’graz.
    â€œNah, Clyve’s dead,” said Becky. “Oboe right through the heart.”
    â€œWow,” I said. I’d only missed one episode, but apparently a lot had happened.
    â€œHey, everybody check this out,” said Little Gus. He’d finally arrived, with Pizza leaping and gamboling behind. “I taught Pizza how to say ‘hamburger.’”
    â€œWhat?” said Hollins. “Dude, why didn’t you teach him how to say ‘Pizza’?”
    â€œHuh,” said Gus, scratching his head, “Oh yeah. Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty. Too late now.” Then to Pizza, “C’mon, boy, say ‘hamburger.’”
    Pizza stared at him silently.
    â€œâ€˜Hamburger.’ C’mon. Remember what we discussed. It’s very important that you say ‘hamburger.’